We have begun a national conversation about what our future Wales should look like. We asked members of the public to get in touch to tell us what matters to them for the future, and we received over 2,000 submissions from individuals, from community organisations, charities, businesses and representative bodies. I've held a series of round-tables with people from community groups, the third sector, local authorities, trade unions, businesses, academics, young people, along with representative organisations from Wales, other parts of the UK and internationally.

Members of the Senedd will also be aware that I set up an advisory group of experts, which has four standing members: Torsten Bell, from the Resolution Foundation; Rebecca Heaton, who represents Wales on the UK Committee on Climate Change and leads on climate change within the Drax Group; Paul Johnson, who heads the Institute for Fiscal Studies; and Miatta Fahnbulleh, who leads the New Economics Foundation; and a different fifth member has attended for each session, bringing a particular sectoral or other experience and knowledge relevant to the issue being discussed.

The round-tables have considered a broad range of issues to help us consider where best to prioritise our efforts, given the scale of the challenge that we face. They have been extremely helpful and the views put forward in these discussions have informed the development of our priorities. They've also reaffirmed to us that our existing concerns—the climate emergency, the corrosive impact of poverty, the need to adapt to rapid economic change and the importance of reconfiguring public services to make them more responsive and accessible—and our values and objectives of a more prosperous, equal and greener Wales are the right ones for our nation albeit in a changed context. Throughout the pandemic, we've been guided by that vision and, in spite of the challenges of the pandemic, we've continued to prioritise delivery of the actions within our programme for government that will have the biggest real world effect.

Today, I've published the report: 'COVID-19 Reconstruction: Challenges and Priorities'. The report sets out key areas where we will focus our efforts and resources for reconstruction to make the most positive impact for Wales.

Recognising that we are entering an extremely challenging time for the jobs market, which is likely to be particularly difficult for young people, we will focus on keeping people in jobs and creating new jobs. We will do everything we can to reduce unemployment and give everyone the best chance to find and keep decent work with long-term prospects, adding value to the UK Government’s Kickstart programme. We will work with trade unions, employers, schools and colleges to provide opportunities for people to develop their skills and to acquire new ones. We will do all that we can to prevent our young people losing out educationally or economically through the effects of coronavirus and an economic downturn that is not of their making. We will support all of our young people to stay in education and to catch up at school and in college. In addition, we'll make sure that particularly disadvantaged groups, including members of black, Asian and minority ethnic communities, receive the additional help that they need.

We'll step up construction of council and social housing to increase access to high-quality housing across Wales, in particular investing in low-carbon housing at scale and upgrading housing stock, particularly social housing, to make it more energy efficient and to reduce fuel poverty. This will provide a threefold benefit: providing an economic stimulus; enabling more people to live in a home that meets their needs and supports a healthy, successful and prosperous life; and contributing to decarbonisation.

We'll step up our investment in our local town centres to help build resilient communities and to capitalise on how coronavirus has refocused people's lives on the communities in which they live, including providing better access to open spaces, the creation of remote working hubs, and making sure our public services are more accessible. Recognising that we continue to tackle other major challenges, we will continue to respond energetically to the climate emergency by pursuing a strong decarbonisation agenda, managing our land for the benefit of rural communities and future generations, and protecting and enhancing our natural resources.

We will take the opportunities offered by changing working and travel patterns to build on trials of demand-responsive public transport and put a clear emphasis in our new transport strategy on minimising the need to travel, spreading demand for public transport more evenly across the day, and enabling active travel as an investment in public health. We'll focus on the everyday or foundational economy and support the growth and independence of Welsh-headquartered businesses in order to build the resilience of the Welsh economy in the face of coronavirus and the end of the EU transition period. We'll support the NHS to make up lost ground in terms of treatment of non-coronavirus-related conditions.

Across all of these eight priorities and in everything we do, we will focus our efforts on supporting those who have been most adversely affected by the crisis, including children and young people, women, those in low-paid and insecure employment, BAME people and disabled people. This package is an evidence-based approach to reconstruction, informed by the experiences of the people of Wales and one that will help us achieve our vision of a more prosperous, equal and greener Wales.